While pouring over this weeks copies of La Voz de Almeria, our local version of Pravda, I noticed with interest, in the middle of an interesting article about how Almeria’s tourism services are the best ranked among all of Andalucia (May 7, page 21), the following phrase:
Desgraciadamente, Ameria no fue una de las provincias andaluzas que mas guiris recibio…
Now, “guiri”, I was always taught, has two meanings:
- A good old fashioned member of the “Englishmen abroad” club, complete with socks and sandals and a kerchief on the head, used in a fond manner (ie, look at that sunburn! Poor old guiris, they need looking after when abroad, not used to the sun!)
- A good old fashioned racist term for anyone who doesn’t speak proper Cristiano.
Not sure how they meant to use it in this article. Never mind.
I used to be addressed by José Antonio in the bank as ‘guiri mio’. That aside, I don’t think it’s a very polite term. I shall avoid giving examples of other stereotypes to prove my point…